Monorail tracks

ABSTRACT

961,767. Monorails. ROAD MACHINES (DRAYTON) Ltd., and L. E. RUSTON. Jan. 25, 1963 [Feb. 9, 1962], No. 5135/62. Heading B7L. A monorail track unit has a rail 4 of sheet metal bent to form a rail head 5 for engagement by a wheel 6 and welded to a base 1, and two triangular rail stiffeners 9 having a central web 10. A spigot 12 fitting into, and continuing, rail head 5, has a pin 11, and a plate 14 welded to base 1 has a hole 15 for connecting the units to a support to form a continuous track. The head 5 may be bent to any suitable shape to conform to the wheel rim profile.

L. E. RUSTON MONORAIL TRACKS Feb. 16, 1965 Filed Feb. 1, 1963 YM Attorney;

United States Patent O 3,i69,4d9 MNQRAEL 'iiRACKS Leonard Edgar Ruston, lenhara, England, assigner to Road Machines :a3/ton) Limited, West Drayton, England, a British company Filed Feb. i, 1963, Ser. No. 255,464 Ciaiins prioritLY application Great Britain, Feb. i962, 5,135/62 Claims. (Ci. lest-lle) This invention relates to monorail tracks, and in particular to monorail track units of the kind adapted to be interconnected end-to-end to form a continuous monorail track.

Monorail track units normally comprise a solid rail head welded to supporting members which are lixed to a rail foot. All the parts of the track unit in such a construction are Welded together and the strength of the track units and the load which they can carry depends on the strength of the Welded joints, as Well as that of the components of the unit.

lt is a main object of the present invention to provide a monorail track unit which is simpler and cheape to manufacture than the previous designs of track units, and is also lighter in weight and stronger than previous units.

According to the invention a monorail track unit comprises a longitudinally extending base, and a rail of inverted V-section whose sides are secured to the base and whose apex is shaped to provide a rail head for engagement by the Wheels of monorail vehicles.

In a preferred construction, the rail is formed of sheet steel which is bent to form said V-section in such a Way that the apex of the V-section forming the rail head is of arcuate section.

Preferably the longitudinally extending base is an in- Verted channel section and the bottoms of th-e sides of the V-section rail are welded to the sides oi the channel section.

Further according to the invention two rail stileners of triangular shape may be respectively xed inside the V-section rail at the ends of the track unit.

Connecting means may be provided at each end of the track unit for connecting the track unit to a supporting stand, whereby a series of track units are interconnected and supported.

The invention also comprehends a monorail system including a number of track units of the kind referred to above interconnected end-to-end and supported to form `a continuous track.

in order that the invention may be more clearly understood an embodiment thereof will now be described, by Way ot example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FTGURE l is a side elevation, partly in section, of a monorail track unit according to the invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a section on line II-ll of FIGURE l.

Referring to the drawings a monorail .track unit comprises a longitudinally extentng base formed by an inverted steel channel section l which has a licor 2 and sides 3.

Secured to the base channel section 1 by Welding is a rail 4 of inverted V-section, which rail is formed of steel sheet which is bent to form the V-section in such a way that the apex 5 of the V-section is shaped to provide a rail head for engagement by the Wheels of monorail vehicles. One such Wheel is indicated in dotted lines `at 6.

3,359,43@ Patented Feb. i6, 1955 In the embodiment illustrated the apex 5 of the V-section forming the rail head is of arcuate section, but this apex may be bent to any suitable shape for matching the proiile of the rim ot' the mono-rail vehicle Wheels.

The bottom of the sides 7 of the V-section rail are welded to the sides 3 of the channel section 1, as indicated at S.

To provide additional strength two rail stiieners 9 of substantially triangular shape are respectively fixed inside the V-section rail 4 at the ends of the track unit. Each `of these stieners is :of T-section including an integral central web l@ which extends inwardly lengthwise of the rail.

Connecting means are provided at each end of the track unit for use in connecting the unit to a supporting stand, whereby a series of track units are interconnected in series `to `form a continuous supported track. The connecting means at each end comprises a dependent pin lll which is welded to one end of a cylindrical shaft 12. The other end i3 of the shaft l2 is of lesser diameter and fits into the apex of the V-section rail as shown in FIG- URE 2. As shown in FiGURE l the outer end of the shaft i2 forms a continuous rail head surface with the head 5 of .the rail and the inner end i3 of the shaft tits into a corresponding cut-out recess in the top of the rail stiiiener 9.

A plate i4 is welded to the floor 2 of the channel section `base l. The plate i4 extends outwardly from the end of the track unit and is formed with a socket i5 in which a peg, not shown, is iitted when the track unit is lixed to a supporting stand.

The invention thus provides a monorail Ytrack unit which is simple to construct, is of relatively light weight, `and because of its unitary construction is capable of carrying much heavier loads than previous rails.

I claim:

1. A monorail track unit comprising a longitudinally extending base, and a sheet metal rail :of inverted V- section, whose sides are secured to the base and Whose apex is shaped to provide a rail head for engagement by the wheels of monorail vehicles.

2. A monorail track unit according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinally extending base is an inverted channel section and the bottoms of the sides of the V-section rail are welded to the sides of the channel section.

3. A monorail track unit according to claim 2, including two rail stiieners of triangular shape respectively fixed inside the V-section rail at the ends of the track unit.

4. A monorail track unit comprising a longitudinally extending base, and a sheet metal rail of inverted V-section Whose sides are secured to the base, the apex of the V- section forming the rail head and being of arcuate section for engagement by the Wheels of monorail Vehicles.

5. A monorail track unit comprising a longitudinally extending base, a sheet metal rail of inverted V-section whose sides are secured to therbase, the apex of the V-section forming the rail head and being of arcuate section for engagement by the wheels of monorail vehicles, and means at each end of the track unit for connecting the track unit to a supporting stand, whereby a series of track units are interconnected and supported.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A MONORAIL TRACK UNIT COMPRISING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING BASE, AND A SHEET METAL RAIL OF INVERTED VSECTON, WHOSE SIDES ARE SECURED TO THE BASE AND WHOSE APEX IS SHAPED TO PROVIDE A RAIL HEAD FOR ENGAGEMENT BY THE WHEELS OF MONORIAL VEHICLES. 